Aggies Pull Out Triple Overtime Thriller at LSU, 94-91

BATON ROUGE – Rashaun Agee converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play to put the Texas A&M men's basketball team ahead with 24 seconds left in the third overtime period as the Aggies beat the LSU Tigers, 94-91, in the Maravich Assembly Center Saturday evening.
 
The Maroon & White trailed 91-90 after the Bayou Bengals' Jalen Reece made a jumper in the paint with 42 seconds on the clock. On the next trip down the court, Agee got his defender in the air with a pump fake beyond the arc and drove the lane converting a layup and added the and-one to put Texas A&M up by two. After Reece missed a jumper, Ali Dibba made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe and the Aggies survived a missed 3-pointer by Max MacKinnon with the clock running out.
 
The Aggies fought through a grueling 15 minutes of overtime where neither team ever led by more than one possession and the only three-point cushions were held by the Maroon & White in the final three minutes. The first came when Rubén Dominguez drained his only shot from bonus land at the 2:57 mark of the third overtime, staking the Aggies to a 90-87 lead.
 
Texas A&M (21-10, 11-7 SEC) wrapped up the six seed and a first round bye in the SEC Tournament with Saturday's victory.
 
The Aggies recorded a season-high 17 steals as they forced 22 turnovers by LSU (15-16, 3-15 SEC).
 
Agee and Rylan Griffen combined for 50 points. Agee tied Tyler Davis' school record with his 12^th double-double of the season. He logged a season-high 26 points and 11 rebounds. Griffen stuffed the stat sheet and notched new career highs with 24 points, seven rebounds, six steals and three blocks.
 
Pop Isaacs added 18 points, seven rebounds, three steals and three assists. Dibba chipped in with 12 points and a career-high five steals.
 
LSU took advantage of Texas A&M's shooting struggles to take a 38-33 advantage into halftime. After the Maroon & White held a brief early lead, the Tigers responded with a 24-7 run to balloon the margin to 26-11 at the 8:52 mark. The Aggies used a 22-9 surge of their own to cut the gap to two points before LSU sank a 3-pointer in the waning moments of the first half. Griffen's 13 points, four rebounds and two steals kept the Aggies in the fight.
 
The Aggies played catchup most of the second half. They cut the deficit to one point on three occasions before breaking through on a Dibba layup to go ahead 61-60 at the 7:25 mark. Texas A&M would eventually pull out to a 70-67 lead on an Agee layup with 1:52 showing. The Bayou Bengals tied the game with a free throw at 1:28 and a layup by MacKinnon with 38 seconds left.
 
Both squads missed an opportunity to pull ahead in the final seconds of regulation. Zach Clemence missed a corner-three for the Aggies with 18 seconds on the clock while Marquel Sutton missed for the Tigers with two ticks remaining.
 
The lead changed hands five times in a seesaw first overtime period with no team leading by more than two points. The Aggies had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Griffen lost his footing on a layup attempt.
 
The squads struggled to score in the second overtime combining for just three field goals. The Aggies held the last advantage, 85-83, with 21 seconds remaining, but MacKinnon made 2-of-2 from the charity stripe to knot the contest with 12 seconds left. The Maroon & White had the last chance to score but were unable to get a shot off.
 
UP NEXT
The Aggies secured the No. 6 seed in the SEC Tournament. They will play the final game of the day on Thursday, March 12 on SEC Network.
 
POSTGAME QUOTES
The postgame interview with Texas A&M head coach Bucky McMillan can be found here.
 
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM NOTES

• Texas A&M registered a season-high 17 steals in the victory, reaching double figures in the category for the 10^th time this year.
• The Aggies had 10-or-fewer turnovers for the 15^th time this year, committing just 10 in the game.
• The Maroon & White scored 23 points off 22 LSU turnovers, their highest point total in league play.
• Texas A&M forced 20-plus turnovers for the first time in league play and third time this season.
• The three overtimes were the most for the Aggies since the 2012-13 season when they fell to Tennessee, 93-85, in four extra periods at Reed Arena.

• Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Marcus Hill, Pop Isaacs, Rylan Griffen, Zach Clemence and Rashaun Agee for the first time this season.  

 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
#2 Pop Isaacs

• Reached double digits in scoring for the 16th time this season with 18 points.
• Matched a career best with seven rebounds.
• Played a career-high 45 minutes.

 
#3 Rylan Griffen

• Scored a career-high 24 points for the fourth 20-plus effort of his career.
• Registered the first back-to-back 20-plus point efforts of his career, combining for 45 points against Kentucky and LSU.
• Matched his career high with seven rebounds and six steals, notching a new high with three blocked shots.
• Equaled a career best in made 3-point field goals, converting on 5-of-8 (62.5%).
• Played a career-high 46 minutes.

 
#6 Ali Dibba

• Matched a career best with five steals.
• Tallied double digits in the scoring column for the fourth time this season with 12 points.

 
#7 Zach Clemence

• Led Aggies in rebounding for the first time this season, pulling down a career-high 12 boards in his first-ever double-digit performance.
• Played a career-high 40 minutes.

 
#12 Rashaun Agee

• Tied the Aggies' single-season record with his 12th double-double, registering 26 points and 11 rebounds.
• Notched 20-plus points for the sixth time this season and the 14th time in his career.
• Pulled down 10-plus rebounds for the 15th time this season and the 36th time in his career.
• Surpassed 1,500 point for his career, upping his total to 1,514.
• Moved into eighth on Texas A&M's single-season rebounds list, upping his total to 274 on the year.
• Played a season-high 47 minutes, one shy of his career best.

 
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